ac aster



(No Model.)

A. J. AGASIER. DEVICE FOR ROLLING RAILROAD RAILS. '0. 276,322.

exited Apr. 24, 1883.

INVENTOR WI TJVESSES aw 63mm a/uwH/z/ E ha M 4 W N. PETERS. Pnola-Lmmphur. Washinglun. D. C.

' To all whom it may concern.-

UNITED STATES PATENT GFFIGE,

AMOS J. AGASTER, or SHEFFIELD, COUNTY OF YORK, ENGLAND.

DEVICE FOR ROLLING RAlLRQAD-RAILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 276,322, dated April24, 1883,

Application flfiled February 1, 1883. (No model.) Patented in EnglandDecember 24, 1881, No. ;644.

Be it known that I, AMOS Josnrn ACASTER, of Sheffield, in the county ofYork, England, engineer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britaim andIreland, have invented certain Improvements in and connected with theMannfacture of Railway-Rails and other similar longitudinal devices, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to certain improvements in or relating tothe method of and means for manufacturing grooved or recessed orindented and ribbed or beaded railwayrails, and grooved or recessed orindented and ribbed or beaded bars, girders, joists, and

other similar longitudinal or structural devices 1 which are or may berequired for use for railway or tramway rails, or for bridge building,or for other constructive purposes.

The present invention has especial reference to improvements in orconnected with the practical carrying out, manufacture, or working of amaterial part oftheinvention secured to me by Letters Patent of theUnited States of America, hearing date the 2d day of July, A. D.1878,.and numbered 205,600, and which were granted unto me in respect ofcertain improvemen ts in rail-joints for railways, the part whereof towhich my present improvements have reference being the rails, variousforms of which were described in the specification of the said LettersPatent, and were illustrated in the drawings annexed thereunto, thepeculiarity of their formation being the manufacture thereof withgrooves, recesses, or indentations (hereinafterreferred to forconciseness of description simply as grooves) or ribs or beads(hereinafter referred to simply as ribs") longitudinally of the railsfor the purposes of dis pensing with the use ofnuts and bolts injointing or connecting the ends of adjacent rails,

and with the necessity for drilling the usual holes therein, to reducethe cost and lessen the number of the parts required, and to provide astrong self-locking joint. The principle of the invention as thereindescribed is equally applicable to longitudinal bars, and to girders,joists, and to other similar longitudinal or structural devices which itis required to unite end to end for various constructive or other usefulpurposes, and which it has been usual side plates-such as fish platesand bolts and nuts, which are always liable to loosen and come apart-andwhich have necessitated the drilling or perforating, and consequentweakenin g, of the connected parts; and therefore I desire it should beunderstood that where hereinafter the term rails is used (being usedalone simply for conciseness of description) the reference comprehendsrails of any usual section, and also comprehendls the applicability ofthe improvements to such other similar longitudinal devices as areimmediately hereinbefore referred to. Bails formed with such grooves orribs in suitable positions for the intended purpose hereinbeforeindicated cannot be properly rolled by any usual appliances withoutalteration of their shape adjacent to the grooves or ribs being rolled,as such grooves and ribs are formed (for the greater advantage asregards their intended use) at such angular relation to each other thatthe ordinary process and means of rolling rails cannot be used for theirformation without, as aforesaid, alteration of the shape of the railsadjacent to the said grooves or ribs, which it is most important shouldnot be offected, as there is thus given an imperfect and insecure meansof retaining the wedge keys by which the parts are united. Moreover, agreat difficulty hitherto experienced in the manufacture of rails isthat when rolled to form as regards their usual cross-sections they arenot straight at the ends, which are more or less out of truth.

The accompanying drawings illustrate-the apparatus herein described sofar as it is necessary to render the same, and the method of operationthereof clear of comprehension without confusing the same by showing theneces sary standards, framing, or gearing, to none of which my presentinvention has any particular reference, all of which may be of any usualor suitable formation or description; and it should be understood.although the accompanying drawings only illustrate the manufacture of adouble-headed rail, that the invention is equally applicable totheforming of bull-headed or other rails, or of bars,joists, or girdersof any usual or required cross-section, in or on which it is required toform grooves, or recesses, or indentations, or ribs, i or beadslongitudinally thereof, suitable for the purposes hereinbeforeindicated.

- zontal, vertical, and inclined rolls, which are so shaped, conformed,and arranged as to encircle, confine, and support the rail at every partof its figure and for some portion of its length, so as at the oneoperation to roll it perfectly to form with the required grooves or ribsand straight and true throughout its length.

1 representsan opposite pair of horizontal rolls, which are shaped tothe desired contour of the heads of the rail and between which rolls therail is entered into the mill. These rolls may freely turn or may bedriven. 2 is a succeeding pair of freely-turning vertical rolls, whichare shaped to the desired contour of the inner sides of the heads andweb of the rail, and guide the rail true to the grooving or ribbin grolls 3 4, which are also arranged in pairs, and are set in angularrelation to each other, as shown. The pair of rolls 3 are shaped to givethe required grooved or ribbed formation to one head of the rail, andopposite the rolls 3 the head being operated upon is encircled by aproperly-shaped horizontal roll, 5, which shaped. The pair of rolls 4,with their opposite roll 6, perform the same functions as the rolls 3 5,but they operate upon the other head of the rail. receive the grooved orribbed rail from the rolls 4 6 and keep it true, and can be shaped topartly close the grooves or turn down the ribs of the rails, and withthe exit pair of horizontal rolls 8 to perfect the general contourof therail and its grooves or ribs and keep it quite straight and true. Inthis arrangement of rolls the sets of rolls 1 2 and 7 8 may each bereplaced by one pair of vertical rolls, which may be driven or freelyturn on shafts.

and each of these rolls would then be shaped to one-half of the desiredsection of rail. This improved arrangement of rolls may be used inconnection with an ordinary rolling-mill for grooving and straighteningrails rolled thereby, and for consolidating and strengthening them bygiving the desired conformation to the rails when they are in acomparatively cool state.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination of opposite pairs ofhorizontal and vertical rolls at the feeding and exit ends of arail-rolling mill, with intermediate pairs of grooving or ribbing rolls3 4, set at an angle, and opposite bearing-rolls 5 6, substantially asset forth.

2. The combination of opposite pairs of vertical rolls at the feedingand exit ends of a rail-rolling mill, with intermediate pairs ofgrooving or ribbing rolls 3 4, set at an angle,

The pair of vertical rolls 7 and opposite bearing-rolls 5 6,substantially as described.

In testimony whereofl have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

I A. J. ACASTER.

Witnesses:

CHARLES AUBREY DAY, PERCY DAVIES DAY.

